The Chaser's Tale
by Gambitized
Summary: The tale of Katie Bell's acts of rebellion during the war. Join Katie, Alicia Spinnet, Angelina Johnson, Cormac Mclaggen, an OC or two as supporting characters, and watch as they fight against Voldermort's reign. Part 2/4: the Triumph
1. Intro

**A/N: This is the first chapter, or intro if you prefer, of what should eventually be a four chapter series. I fully intend to keep writing, but I have no real idea how long it will take for me to put out all four.**

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My name is Katie Bell, and early in the morning on August 4, 1997 was when the worst year in my life began.

Over a dozen years have passed since then, but I can remember the day clearly. For a long time, I just wanted to move past that year, to live like never happened. But something a friend said to me the other day convinced me that I can't keep quiet anymore. I approached the _Daily Prophet_ so that they can tell my story.

Even though it's my story, I'm not telling it about myself. It's for some friends who never really cared for fame. It's not fair that these people, all heroes, should be forgotten. Until now, they've never once been praised for what they did. I want to change that.

The story starts in my flat at the time, where I was having a party. Not for any specific reason, mostly just as an excuse to see all my friends from school again. We were just supposed to catch up, relax a little, and find where our jobs were talking us.

Of course, as parties often go, by two o'clock in the morning, almost everyone had left, and there were just five of us still sitting around my table. I was there of course, as well as Alicia Spinnet, Ryan Jenkins, Courtney Hall, and Cormac McLaggen. I had invited Angelina Johnson, but she hadn't showed up. I was a little worried about her, since she had been adamant that she was coming last time I talked to her, but there wasn't much I could do.

Alicia had come early to help me set up. I had been really pleased to see her, since being a year older than me I hadn't been able to spend much of the last school year with her. She remained exactly the same as ever, friendly and worried about me.

Ryan and Courtney had been best friends since early in the second year I think. They were practically inseparable at Hogwarts, even taking all the same classes. Ryan often joked that they were practically twins. Courtney used joke the same way, but since about our fifth year, she realized something and stopped. Ryan still hadn't taken the hint, but none of us really had any doubt that he would, though we had often wondered how long it would take.

Cormac was the same as ever. Unlike Ryan and Courtney, I hadn't really been friends with him at school. I had only really invited him to be polite. Of course, with the tact that he was known for, He hadn't left when most of the other people had, and was now seeing how many Cockroach Clusters he could fit in his mouth. This was impressive not only since he had managed to fit in an even dozen, but also because the clusters had a disturbing way of moving in your mouth in a way I found a little too realistic for my taste.

"More! More!" egged on Ryan, a little too happy to encourage Cormac. In response, Cormac fumbled blindly for another cluster and crammed it into his mouth just as the door opened and Angelina stepped in.

"Angelina!" I jumped up and ushered her in. "What's taken you so long? I expected you hours ago."

On closer examination, Angelina looked tired. She was moving wearily, without responding to me, she collapsed where I had been sitting.

"Angelina, you OK?" asked Alicia, leaning toward her.

"Me?" responded Angelina idly not really seeming to pay attention. "I'm fine."

"What's up then?" said Courtney, also leaning closer. "Why weren't you here earlier?"

"I'm guessing that you haven't you seen the _Prophet_ yet?" Angelina frowned, still sounding vaguely distracted before pulling out a copy from her robes. "Here, take a look."

I snatched it from her hand a moment before Alicia got to it. In his corner, Cormac provided a dramatic sound as he crunched down on his mouthful of Cockroach Clusters. I flipped the newspaper open, and then stared in disbelief at the front page. A big picture of Harry, wearing an annoyed expression filled the page. Below, in big letters, it read:

WANTED FOR QUESTIONING ABOUT

THE DEATH OF ALBUS DUMBLEDORE

"Ah," I said glibly, letting Alicia grab the paper from me and sinking down the floor in one motion. "When did this happen?"

Alicia had a more energetic reaction.

"WHAT! HOW COULD THEY!" she screamed loudly. Ryan, Courtney, and Cormac all stared at her. "HOW COULD THEY THINK HARRY WAS INVOLVED?"

"Harry?" asked Ryan. "Harry Potter?"

"YES HARRY POTTER!" screamed Alicia, going very red in the face. "THE STUPID IDOITS AT THE MINISTRY THINK HE HAD A PART IN KILLING DUMBLEDORE!"

"Why would they think that?" said Courtney reasonably. "It's been months since he died. Even the Ministry couldn't take that long to blame him."

"The ministry's been taken over by You-Know-Who," said Angelina, cutting Alicia off before she started shouting again, Alicia sunk deeper into her chair instead, looking shocked at this news. "Everything's being changed."

"We would have heard if the Ministry had been taking over," I spoke up from where I was still sitting on the ground. "If they had, there would have been battle, news would have gotten out."

"The Minister never would have gone down without a fight," agreed Cormac, his mouth mercifully free of Cockroach Clusters. "I know him, and he's as tough as they come."

"Look at Page seven," snapped Angelina, ripping the newspaper out of Alicia's hands and tossing it at Cormac. Snatching it out of the air, he flipped it open to page seven, and quickly scanned the page.

"It says that he's resigned," said Cormac, looking stunned. "He would never do that."

"Do you think he's dead?" asked Courtney, looking horrorstruck.

Angelina shrugged, "Either that or in Azkaban."

"And the rest of the Minstry?" said Ryan, seizing the paper and leaning back against the couch, as though he often had discussions about Ministry falling.

"I don't know," admitted Angelina. "From what I gathered, there wasn't much of a fight. It looks like they were betrayed on the inside."

"People under the Imperious Curse?" I asked, shivering a little. I had spent several months of the last school year in St. Mungo's because I had been put under that curse, so I knew how easily it could happen.

"Maybe," said Angelina. "No one really knows what's going on out there. All I really know for certain is that the changes they're making are so radical, it's got to be under You-Know-Who's control."

"What changes?" said Alicia, looking pale, a stark contrast when compared to how red she had been when she had been yelling. "The one about Harry I can understand, given how much _He_ wants him, but what are they going to do next?"

"On page two is says that they're going to register Muggle-borns," said Ryan conversationally. "I can't imagine that is going to lead to anything good."

"What are they going to do to them?" asked Courtney, sounding a little panicked. She reached over and yanked the paper out of his hand. The paper, however, had reached the end of its limits for being ripped out of people's hands. With a loud tearing noise, it split into two pieces.

"It didn't say," said Ryan folding up his piece calmly. "But if the Death Eaters have really taken over, I'd say either death, or thrown in Azkaban long enough to wish that they were dead."

"People won't stand for this," I said confidently. "They have to be fighting against the Ministry."

"Katie," began Angelina, giving me a pitying look. "You haven't seen everyone out there, have you?" When I shook my head, she continued on. "No one's talking to each other, and most people are hurrying home, making sure that their families are all right."

Ryan sighed. "She's right. Most people aren't going to risk their loved ones getting hurt just because they decided to start fighting a battle they can't win."

"But there are people in the Ministry who won't stand for this." said Courtney, starting to clench the newspaper in her hands. "They-"

"Want to keep themselves and their families safe." Angelina completed her sentence. "I doubt that they can trust anyone in there. Either everyone's trying to gain favor with the new Ministry, or else afraid to trust anyone in case they're under the influence if the Imperious Curse.

"That's how it happened last time," Alicia remembered. "My dad told me once, a long time ago, that he couldn't trust anyone."

I slumped against the couch, defeated. Across from me, Courtney had crunched up her half of the newspaper so much it was now only a tight ball of paper in her fist, looking worried. Next to her, Ryan was frowning thoughtfully at the bowl of Cockroach Cluster on the table, looking deep in thought. Alicia was staring moodily around at my flat, looking peeved. Cormac was still looking shocked, and he gave no sign that he had even heard what had happened in the last few minutes. Angelina was looking helplessly at me, looking more defeated then I had ever seen her.

"No," said Cormac suddenly, standing up, so that his big frame was towering over us. "We're not just going to give up without a fight."

"What do you want us to do?" asked Angelina. "Walk into the Ministry and start stunning everything we see?"

"Better that then just sitting here doing nothing," said Cormac, starting to pace back and forth in front of them. "I refuse to just sit here and do nothing."

"None of us like it," said Alicia.

"So help me," said Cormac, pausing to look at her. He looked oddly impressive framed against the wall, a look of such passion on his face that I couldn't help but give him my full attention. "I can't see myself staying home when I know that out, there" he gestured out a window "People I know are being killed, or dragged off to Azkaban."

"If we try and play hero, we'll end up dead," said Ryan quietly.

"I rather be dead then sitting here doing nothing," said Cormac, sounding fierce. "What's wrong with you guys? You're supposed to be brave."

"We are brave," I began, but Cormac cut me off.

"Then show it. Out of all of us here, I'm the one with the most to lose. My father's pretty rich, he knows people, and if I get caught, He'd lose all of that, and that's the best case scenario. At worse, he could end up in Azkaban, and I wouldn't be far behind in that case. But I still say that's better than not doing anything."

I looked around the room to see what effect his words were having. Alicia was slowly nodding in agreement with Cormac, Angelina had a fierce look on her face, Ryan's face was unreadable, and Courtney was looking toward Ryan, so that I couldn't see her face.

"Are you going to help me?" asked Cormac bluntly.

I exchanged a look with Angelina, then we both stood up.

"We're in," said Angelina. I nodded in agreement.

Courtney looked at us for a moment, then stood up as well. "I'm a Muggle-born, so it's either I do this, or I go they cart me off without a fight. Between the two, I'll do this any day.

Together, the four of us stared at the only two still sitting, Alicia and Ryan.

"Well?" asked Cormac after another moment of staring at them.

"I don't know if this will kill us or not, but if you two are in," said Alicia looking right at me, "I'm with you guys.

And she stood up, so that the five of us towered over Ryan.

"What is it that you were planning that makes you think we can make a difference," said Ryan after a long silence. "There's only six of us."

"That doesn't matter yet. We need to see who's with us first," said Cormac. "We're going to fight. Are you?"

Ryan stared at each of us for a long moment, lingering for a second longer on Courtney's. At last, he spoke.

"I don't think we'll actually do anything besides get ourselves killed, but if you guys are doing it, so am I."

And just like that, we had started a fight that we had no way of winning.

Of course, that wasn't the end of the discussion. We stayed up until dawn talking about what we were going to do, who we could trust, and what we would accomplish.

The list for all of those things was depressingly small. I don't remember the exact words anymore, but it boiled down to this: we couldn't do much against the ministry, we couldn't trust anyone for fear they might be under the imperious curse, and our chances of actually accomplishing anything substantive was almost zero.

But we were already set in our course, and none of us were going to back down now, no matter what the difficulties. With Cormac's passion, Angelina's leadership, Alicia's cautiousness, Courtney's willingness to risk it all, and Ryan's ability to play devil's advocate, the beginnings of a good plan started to come together.

By the time we went to sleep, we were a far way from being ready, but we had taken the first steps in fighting back.

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 **A/N: First, off, thanks for reading all of it. If your are interested in reading more, you should probably be aware that I won't for at least three weeks, and there's a very real probability that it will be long. I have definite plans to continue this though.**


	2. Triumph

**A/N: so yes, this did take a while to write. In my defense, this is easily the longest thing I've ever written. And that's not even including all the time I spent thinking about a realistic way of leaving the Ministry. Anyway, I hope you Enjoy!**

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My name is Katie Bell, and on September 21, 1997, me and my friends Angelina Johnson, Alicia Spinet, Courtney Hall, Ryan Jenkins, and Cormac McLaggen managed to sneak into the Ministry, find our way to the basement, free some Muggle-borns, then escape.

When I write it like that, it seems pretty simple. Of course, at the time, it wasn't nearly that simple.

The morning after the party, when we all had finally managed to drag ourselves out of bed for a (very) late breakfast, we sat down and talked for hours, a pattern that would repeat over the coming months. That day however, Ryan sat us down right after breakfast and started shooting off ideas to keep us safe, the foremost of which that we always had to stay within sight of at least one other person sitting here.

"What?" Ryan said, staring around at our stony faces. "I know that it's not going to be fun to never have a moment alone, but it's the only way I can think of that guarantee's that we don't get captured, or worse, Imperiused."

After Ryan got done coming up with more ideas to restrict us that we reluctantly had to agree made sense, we took a moment to stretch our legs, before we sat down again to try and boil down what we were actually going to do to fight back. With much arguing, we came to three options: 1, we could infiltrate Ministry and try to free some the Muggle-borns being tried there before they got sent to Azkaban (my and Courtney's idea) 2, we could try to spread the truth and convince people to fight back (Alicia's, Ryan's and Cormac's idea). 3, we could flood the ministry with Pigmy Puffs (Angelina's idea).

Well, in spite of the humorous potential of it, the third idea was pretty quickly scrapped, leaving us with just the first two. After few more hours of arguing, we decided on my and Courtney's idea. We all agreed to it for differing reasons, but in the end we were all committed to it.

After a quick dinner, we called it a night once more, brains exhausted and voices hoarse. The next day, we had just settled down to start plotting once more, when we were interrupted by a number of owls. They were split almost evenly, half from our employers, demanding to know why we hadn't showed up to work this morning (some were not phrased that politely, believe me) and the others from various family members, demanding to know what the heck had happened at the party to make them not come home.

On our way to make our devious plots, we had forgotten that the world outside hadn't stopped. It hadn't even had the good grace to slow down for us. It took us a few minutes, but we all pretty quickly agreed to quit our jobs. For one thing, if the past day or so was any indication, it was going to take most of our time to plan how we were going to enter. Also, as Ryan pointed out, we would have to split up if we had jobs, something that he felt had to be prevented. Most of that afternoon was spent sending letters back, informing family members that we were still alive, and advising those of them that were Muggle or Muggle-born that they should leave the country. As the owls flew off, we were left feeling grim. We were left just as scared for our loved ones as everyone else was, though we hid it from each other for reasons I can't recall anymore.

Now that we finished that and were relatively free of obligations, we got down to planning the real details of what we were going to do.

"The problem," said Alicia, over a bowl of stew that night. "Is that we just don't have enough information about what's going on in there to do anything."

Ryan wasn't eating, but stared intently at the newest _Daily Prophet_ that he and Courtney had brought in earlier that day, taking the opportunity to read it while the rest of us were eating.

"We still have a little time," he said slowly. "They've only just formed the Muggle-born commission, so it's going to take a while for them to sort things out enough for them to be efficient.

"And they have to give Muggle-borns sometime to register too," added Courtney, her eyes flitting around the room, like she was weighing us, before looking back down at her bowl.

"They might not be. While we sit here, people could be getting thrown in Azkaban," Cormac growled from my lone armchair. Almost two straight days of being in the same small flat and arguing constantly hadn't done anything to improve our tempers, and it was especially noticeable in Cormac. "Every day we sit here on our arses, more and more people are going to get thrown in that hellhole.

"It's not going to do any good if we get caught too," Alicia told him, rehashing the same argument we had used several times already.

"But if we keep sitting here and talking about it, there'll be no one left to rescue!" Cormac snapped at her.

"And if did your way, we'd already be in Azkaban," Alicia shot back, pummelling her knee.

"And if we sit here and argue all day, were not going to be able to help anyone," I said firmly. Alicia flushed and looked back at her dinner, and after glaring at her for a few more seconds, Cormac did likewise.

"If you're quite finished arguing," said Angelina, setting her bowl on top of mine, "We need to find out more the ministry."

"Unless you think that yelling at each other will help," added Courtney from where she was getting more stew.

"It might help Katie's neighbours like us better," offered Angelina. "At this rate, they probably know out plans better than we do."

"What's this have to do with the Ministry?" Cormac said from his chair, still glowering at Alicia.

Let's start with what we know about them," said Alicia grabbing mine and Angelina's bowl and walking them over to the counter, calm once more. "Who's been inside it before?"

Cormac, Ryan, and I all raised our hands.

"So at least some of us know the general layout," said Angelina.

"And my dad still works at the Ministry," said Alicia. "It won't be hard for us to learn more about what's going on inside."

"Someone might be watching him, though," said Ryan.

"And if we try to figure everything out own our own, then we'll never be able to do anything," Angelina pointed out.

Ryan considered this for a moment, then nodded reluctantly. "Just be discreet when you ask him, alright?"

"Don't worry, I'll take Angelina with me," Alicia grinned. "She's the most discreet person I know."

"I can believe it," said Ryan, completely straight faced, going back to reading the _Prophet_.

"My father is pretty well known, he knows most of what's going on in the Ministry," Cormac spoke up, having used the opportunity while Ryan was speaking to eat the rest of his dinner in two bites. "We can go tonight."

"Just be discreet about it right?" Courtney told him, throwing a half-smile at Ryan. Ryan didn't notice, too absorbed in the _Daily Prophet_ once more to do more than grunt vaguely.

"Have any of you checked the time?" asked Alicia, watching Ryan and shaking her head despairingly at him.

I checked my watch. "It's almost ten."

"How'd the hell it get so late?" said Cormac, straightening up in his chair and looking at his own watch.

"We got up almost at lunch time, Cormac," I said. "We've only been up for less than twelve hours."

"Really?" asked Cormac. "My father's probably already gone off to bed then."

"Tomorrow we can split up and pay a visit to your house," said Angelina, switching from 'sarcastic commenter' to 'leader' in a heartbeat.

"Make sure you ask them about any new security precautions their taking," said Ryan, throwing the _Daily Prophet_ on to the table with an expression of distaste in his mouth.

"Golly, I'm glad you're here to give us ideas," said Angelina, switching back again effortlessly. "Who knows what might have happened?"

Ryan nodded apologetically. "Sorry, pretty dumb advice."

"Better safe than sorry," I said.

"And we need to know how they transport prisoners to Azkaban, right?" said Courtney, thinking out loud. "Since can't rescue them from Azkaban, then we need to find out how they move them from the ministry, unless you want to try and grab them before the Ministry does?"

"We can't do that for any of them that run and then get caught," said Alicia. "Not to mention we have no clue where they are."

"So, we need to learn the lay out, what kind of security they have, and how they move people to Azkaban," I summed up, tucking some loose strands of hair behind my ear. "And not get caught."

"Or making them suspect anything," said Ryan. "If they do, they might just cast the Imperious Curse us, on the chance that we're plotting something."

"Right then" said Cormac, starting to pace again. "I'll go to my father's house tomorrow and see what's going on—"

"I'll go with you, make sure that no one puts a curse on you," volunteered Ryan quickly, looking worried that Cormac would just head off by himself.

Cormac scowled at this restriction, but conceded with a nod.

"And I'll take Angelina, and talk to my dad," said Alicia. "We can stop by your parent's house so they don't get too worried."

"That's probably a good idea," said Angelina wryly. "I haven't talked to them since the Ministry fell."

"I'll go to Diagon alley with Courtney then and resupply, since most of my foods mysteriously disappeared," I offered.

"Down Cormac's throat," muttered Angelina.

"We can stop at your parents, so that they can reassure themselves that you're all right," suggested Courtney. "Ryan's too."

"What about your parents?" Alicia asked.

"They're Muggles, so it's probably best if I don't see them," said Courtney, shaking her head. "They should be safe if I'm not with them, but I'll send them an owl to make sure they take a holiday for the next month or so."

"You can use Glimfeather," I said. I hadn't thought about Courtney's family, though now that I thought about it, the subject had to be weighing heavily on her. "He's spent too long lounging around anyway."

"I… thanks," Courtney said, a little sadly, but then she smiled. "My siblings should enjoy the holiday at least."

"For that matter," said Ryan, frowning once more. "Are you sure it's a good idea for you to go out if they're looking for you?"

"They're not going to be looking for her, not yet," said Alicia firmly.

Angelina nodded in agreement. "We all need get out of this flat for a bit."

It was hard to argue with that, and within an hour, we were ready for bed. I retreated into the room that I now shared with Courtney and tried to get sleep, knowing it was going to be a busy day tomorrow.

The next morning, it was a chaos as everyone tried to get ready and eat breakfast without knocking into each other. Though I had always regarded my flat as spacious, it was never designed to hold six people comfortably. Later, with a bit of practice, we would be able to move about smoothly, but that morning I remember hanging back for the most part, watching as Cormac bumping into other people as he moved his bulk around the kitchen. It took a while, but at last, Courtney and I set out for Diagon alley.

Though it had it had been less than a week since I had last visited it, already Diagon alley looked different. The shops were the same, though in only a few months I would learn that almost half of them would close down. The real difference was in the people.

If you had told me a week ago that next time I visited it, it would be this different, I would have called you a fool. Ever since the end of my sixth year at Hogwarts, when You-Know-Who was confirmed to be alive by the Ministry, Diagon alley had changed, looking greyer and less cheerful than ever before.

But that didn't prepare me for how it looked now. A few of the shops had closed up already. The few people we saw didn't dare look us in the eyes. The few storekeepers we saw outside their stores were sourly putting up posters of "undesirable number one." Diagon alley, once packed with people, had scarcely more than fifty people in it, most moving in groups, muttering to themselves. As we bought what we needed, the staff, usually helpful and happy to talk, didn't move behind their counters, dourly watching us the entire time. The only place that still looked bright was the Weasley Twin's shop, but even that looked less welcoming then before, and there were only a few people in it now.

Needless to say, we finished up and left as soon as possible. We spent some time at my parents place. I reassured myself that they were alright, and talked about what was happening. I didn't tell them what I was doing obviously, but they seemed to sense that I was up to something. They didn't mention it, but I could tell that they were just as terrified as I was that something was going to happen to one of us.

Afterwards we dropped in at Ryan's parent's house. They obviously knew Courtney well, because they didn't even hesitate to usher her. They were nice, though they seemed a bit uncertain of me, which given the circumstances, I didn't take offence to. We promised to make sure that Ryan would drop by soon and then left quickly.

We beat everyone else home, and whittled away the time storing what we had bought. Thinking ahead, I had bought as much as possible, and it took a while to store. Then we went around cleaning the flat, since it still had residue of the party scattered around it. I think we both talked idly, pretending that we weren't worried about the others. I knew that there was no reason to logically, but the trip to Diagon Alley had made me realize for the first time how dreadful our new world was.

It wasn't until after Courtney and I had finished eating dinner that the other four made their way back in, and after a few greetings, we settled down in my living room to hear what they had found out.

"They've cut of all but the most senor employees' houses, and the only way to get into it now is to have tokens," finished Alicia, after a rather long explanation of all the new security measures were. "Here," she pulled out a coin embossed with M.O.M on it and passed onto Angelina, who held it up, examining it.

"What about visitors?" asked Angelina, passing the coin off to Cormac, who grunted at it and quickly passed it onto Ryan.

"Invitation only now," said Alicia. "We'd have to get permission from someone inside the ministry. I suppose my dad, or Cormac's for that matter, could get us in, but—"

"But it would be better if we all didn't get invited by the same two people," agreed Ryan, still looking at the coin.

"What if we just walked in?" I asked. "It shouldn't be too hard to get tokens from Alicia's dad?"

"We could," Courtney said, "but there's always the danger that we'd be asked what we were doing there."

"We could lie and say we were invited," said Angelina shrugging.

"But we wouldn't have any proof," said Alicia. "And if we were asked…"

She trailed off into silence.

"Let's save that option for an emergency," offered Courtney.

"How hard would it be to get invited though?" asked Cormac, scratching at some stubble on his chin. "I mean, _my_ dad should be able to get me in without a problem."

"We could apply to jobs," said Ryan thoughtfully, handing the coin back to Alicia. "We're all young enough that it would believable.

"And that could get us past the gates," Alicia nodded, playing with the coin as she spoke. "And then we even have a legitimate reason for being there."

"But we would have to actually go to them," Ryan continued his train of thought. "Else they would get suspicious if we didn't show up to them…"

He trailed off, not noticing the amused looks the rest of us sent him.

"Could we use a Portkey?" I asked, stuck by a sudden inspiration.

"No," Cormac said shortly

"I think people have done it before," I argued.

"That was last year," Cormac said, reaching into a bowl of Cockroach Clusters I had just bought that afternoon.

"What changed?" Angelina prompted.

"One of the last things Fudge did before he was sacked was place stronger protections around the Ministry," said Cormac, throwing one of the squirming clusters into his mouth. "Same type of charms around it that prevent anyone from taking a Portkey into Azkaban."

"So that rules out using a Portkey then," said Angelina, squaring her shoulders. "We just have to get invited then."

That gets us into the Ministry," I said, "but what about getting the Muggle-borns out?"

We stared at each other for a minute or so, each trying to think of something. This would have been awkward, except we were already well practiced at avoiding each other's eyes while thinking. Every few moments one of us would brighten up, and then settle down gloomily as we realized it wouldn't work.

"How'd do they get people to Azkaban?" Angelina spoke up at last, playing absently with her braid.

'"They use Floo powder to get them out to a small outpost near the ocean," Cormac said, grabbing another Cockroach Cluster from the now almost empty bowl. "After that its brooms to the prison, surrounded by dementors the whole time of course.

"So they use a room to Floo them out then?" asked Ryan, getting up and stretching with a groan.

"That's what my father said, yeah," Cormac said.

"Hmmm," Alicia mused, a crafty look coming onto her face.

It took days for us to get an idea of what we were going to do. There was no bright flash of inspiration for us, just a long few days of sitting on my couches and running ideas at each other until we found one that had promise. Even after we had the general idea down, it still took a week to thrash out the little details, and then yet another week to gather everything we needed and practice the Patronus Charm. Then we needed to figure out a place to take the Muggle-borns to once we got them out. And after all that, when we had gone over the plan a dozen times, five of us still had to write to certain areas of the Ministry requesting a job interview. Courtney, being a Muggle-born, couldn't, which meant that she couldn't join us. Courtney, to say the least, wasn't exactly happy about this.

"Don't worry, without you the plan doesn't work," I told her, trying to cheer up.

"Yay," she said without a trace of enthusiasm. "Really though, I'll be ready to do my part."

Now, in a perfect world, everything would have worked out fine, but two things happened.

First, as Ryan pointed out that we had no clue where the actual trials were being held. Oh, we could make some guesses, but the uncertainty was sure to hurt our changes. Luckily, I had a friend of mine from school, who, when she heard that I was writing this, requested that I use only her first name. This friend, Leanne, had joined the Ministry right out of Hogwarts, and had been transferred to work at the Muggle registration committee, as a scribe

Let me state outright that Leanne never wanted to work for it, and it is absolutely not her fault that she was forced to work for Umbridge. She put herself in great personal danger by passing information to us in such a way that she couldn't be blamed while giving us vital information, and we couldn't have done it without her.

Leanne met me and Alicia at the Leaky Cauldron for dinner one night, and a few causal questions were enough for us to know where the trials were taking place, and that Dementors would be inside the actual trial room, solving our first problem easily enough.

The second problem was that two days before we were going to break in for the first time, someone else broke in before us and set some Muggle-borns free. Cormac told us, looking disgruntled that someone had taken the glory before us, that his father had heard rumours that it was Harry Potter.

Naturally, this was all good and well, but it also tightened security around the Ministry, and it was almost three weeks later, when everything had calmed down a bit, that we managed to rearrange all our job interviews so that they were on the same day. After that, it was just a matter of waiting for the day to come.

On the day of the rescue, I got up early, after a night of tossing and turning. I padded into the kitchen, thinking vaguely of making breakfast. Cormac and Ryan were still asleep on my two couches, battered old things that had come with the flat. Their snores filled the room, giving off the impression of normalcy that soothed me a bit. Five minutes after I started breakfast Alicia shuffled out of the room she shared with Angelina, wearing a bleary expression.

"Morning," I said

"Morning," she grunted back, starting to help me with breakfast, seeming to be moving more automatically then any real desire to help. Alicia was never a morning person.

"I didn't sleep so well last night," I told her.

"You slept at all?" she said wistfully.

"You didn't?" I asked.

"Not a wink," she replied.

"Oh. That's too bad," I said.

"Yeah," she agreed readily.

There was a minute or two of silence while we kept breakfast moving.

"Worried?" I asked her.

"Me?" replied Alicia with a strange laugh that was a pitch or two higher than normal. "Oh yes, but I'll be fine once it starts."

"How's Angelina?" I said.

"Still sleeping," she said, nodding at the door where Courtney and I slept. "How's Courtney?"

"She told me she'll be right out as soon as she's done throwing up," I glanced at Ryan, still asleep on the couch. "You hear Ryan blunder around in the middle of the night?"

"Who didn't hear him?" Alicia said, smiling, though nerves were making her look more like she was clenching her teeth together.

Cormac sat up so suddenly that Alicia and I both jumped.

"I smell bacon," he said, leaping off the couch; his heavy frame made a dull thud as his feet landed. Ryan gave a sudden snort and rolled off of his couch, making another thud.

"Someone die out there?" Angelina's voice suddenly came from inside her and Alicia's room.

"Only Ryan," I called back.

"Alright then," she answered. Though the wisecrack was normal, I could hear the tension in her voice too.

Time did funny things that morning. One moment we were fooling around, our stretched nerves making everything much funnier, and the next moment it was almost time to go, without any sort of time in-between.

"Everyone know where you going to?" asked Angelina, once all of us had finally finished using the one bathroom my flat contained.

"I'm going to the Aurors, to see if I qualify for their training program," I said, ignoring the nervous feeling in my stomach. "Then I'll get in a lift to the basement, where I'll wait for the rest of you to catch up, or even better, where the rest of you we'll be waiting for me."

"So you don't have to wait as long?" asked Ryan, grinning at me. This was very nearly the first time I'd seen him smile, and knowing that it was only because he was nervous did nothing to help my own nerves.

"Something like that," I agreed.

"Ryan…" Angelina prompted, pacing around and patting her pocket where her wand was.

"Sorry," Ryan said. "I'll be doing the same thing as Katie, but, in the Improper Use of Magic Office, on the same floor.

"And I'll be in my Father's department, up in level six, looking to get a job in the same spot as him," said Alicia, trying to sound casual, though she sounded more like she had a tooth ache.

"I'll be visiting Higgs, one of my dad's old friends," said Cormac. "On the pretence of thinking that I saw a traitor on the street, only I'll be describing Travers instead, the bloody git was snuffling around my father's house when I visited…"

"And I'll be applying to the Broom Regulatory Control" Angelina said rolling her eyes as she said it. "Mine shouldn't take long; I'm dreadfully under-qualified for the position."

"I think we're all ready then," Alicia said.

"Good," Angelina rubbed her eyes, and then patted her pocket again, looking like she was thinking hard. She looked up at the five of us. "Courtney, you better get going. Umbridge should be out of her house by now."

Courtney nodded once, looking fiercely determined. "Don't keep me waiting"

"We won't," promised Ryan, grinning so hard it looked like it hurt.

Courtney looked like she was going to say something, then swallowed and nodded, before turning on the spot, disappearing with a loud crack.

"Be safe," Ryan said softly to the thin air, so quietly that I thought I might have imagined it.

"Remember," Angelina told us. "We want to get down to the basement as early as possible. The later we are the more Muggle-borns have already been dragged off to Azkaban." She paused for a second, before adding, "Anything else I forgot?"

"Act confident," said Cormac, looking down on us. "If anyone needs help, I'll be on the second level."

"Great," said Angelina, very sarcastically "Anything else?"

"Stay within sight of your partners as much as possible," Ryan said immediately. I hide a grin, knowing he couldn't help himself. "I know we're going to have to separate a bit, but every moment that we are split up, the chances of us getting Imperiused goes up."

Alicia regarded him for a moment before smiling at him. "Have you have considered joining the Aurors when all this is over? I'm sure Mad-Eye Moody would take you on in an instant."

"Anything else?" asked Angelina impatiently, patting her wand pocket again. When no one said anything, Angelina tried to grin reassuringly at us. "Don't worry. As long as we stay calm, think on our feet, and stick to the general plan, we'll be fine."

I looked around at them too. We had spent over a month and a half waiting for this moment, days of plotting and waiting building up to this moment. Cormac was eager, Angelina a mix nervousness, anger and tenseness, Alicia tenser, and Ryan downright nervous.

"Let's go then," said Angelina tersely, checking her watch. "Good luck everyone."

She waved her hand and turned on the spot, disappearing loud pop.

We were to follow her one by one, waiting a few minutes between every one, so that it didn't look like we were coming in one group. The theory behind this was that it would be harder for anyone to put us together.

Of course, a side effect of this was to make several of us endure the agony of waiting. Cormac and Alicia were to go last, the hope behind this being that since their father's were known, their interview processes would go faster.

Ryan left next, smiling so much he looked ill. I went over the plan one more time in my head. We had set a cut-off time for ten-thirty. Anyone who was already down by the trial rooms should attempt the rescue, and anyone not there yet should leave through the front entrance. Checking my watch, I saw that it was almost eight-thirty, which gave me two hours to finish the job interview and get down to the where the others where hopefully waiting for me.

The time passed slowly, but before too long it was my turn. Leaving Alicia and Cormac alone, I turned on the spot, feeling the usual feeling of suffocation squeezing down on me. I landed on an alleyway, one that looked like no one had dared enter it for several months.

I took a deep breath and put a hand out against an ancient fire escape to steady myself (Apparation has always made me queasy) and then started walking toward the entrance of the Ministry. The last time I had entered the Ministry, it had been through the Floo network, so I didn't know what the outside had been like before the Death Eaters had taken over, but now it was apparently a public toilet.

I walked down the stairs to the Ladies' toilets. Thirty minutes ago I imagined them to be close to full as all the various witches who worked there tried to get in, but when I got in, it wasn't so bad. A few witches were leaving, pushing open cubicle doors as they rushed to get somewhere. An elderly witch with hair teased up into what resembled an ant hill was fumbling with a golden token, her hands shaking as she inserted it into the slot. With a frightened look at me, she hurried in, shutting the cubicle door firmly behind her.

I slipped my own token into a different cubicle, surprised to find that my hands were quite steady as I did so. With a minimum amount of hesitation, I flushed my toilet and found myself flying down a chute and out of a fireplace.

"Business here?" asked a voice, and I looked up to see a middle-aged wizard with the air of a once fit man gone slightly pudgy standing above me.

"I—er, hold on," I replied, standing up and digging through my pockets for the letter the Auror office had sent back, inviting me to the interview. The guard took it without comment, and I took the opportunity to look around the Atrium.

The Atrium was almost unchanged from when I had last seen it. It had the same polished floor and shiny walls, the same golden gates that people were flocking in and out of. The only thing different was the giant, rather frightening dark stone statue dominating the floor around, making the vast room look darker. Even from where I was I could see the Muggles being used to support the weight of the wizards, and the foot-high letters around the base: MAGIC IS MIGHT.

"Hold still," grunted the guard, startling me; I had forgotten that he was still there. I tried not to stiffen as he pulled out a Secrecy Sensor and starting waving it around my body.

He appeared to notice though, because he paused in his waving of the Sensor to smile reassuringly at me.

"Listen here lass," he said, speaking quietly and glancing over his shoulder as a group of wizards rushed out a few fireplaces down from where we were standing. "I know it's not like how it was, but keep your head down, make sure you register your wand, and you'll be fine, aye?'

I nodded silently, my mouth too dry to answer. He seemed to understand though. He nodded at me once, and started to wave his Sensor again.

In spite of his words, my heart, already working overtime, starting beating like even faster, and it was all I could do to not shy away from him. Though I didn't have anything that would _technically_ set it off, I did have one item that we had put all our money on that the Secrecy Sensors wouldn't detect: Fred and George Weasley's Headless Hats.

You see, it was really quite an ingenious part of the plan. We needed some way of disguising ourselves, and Polyjuice potion, even if we could get a hold of some, would be picked up by the Secrecy Sensors. Transfiguration was much too slow for it to be effective. We had been stumped, when Cormac had come up with the relatively brilliant idea of using the Weasley Twin's Hats to protect anyone from seeing our face.

As great idea as that had been however, it could very well collapse the plan if the Sensors could pick it up. This explained why I was holding my breath, and trying to avoid mental images of me being dragged up to the Aurors in very different circumstances then I had planned.

"You're clean," the Guard told me, handing back my letter, and I tried not to look too relieved. "Don't forget to register your wand lass; they tend to get a wee bit upset if you don't."

"Thank you," I said, sincerely meaning it. I had mentally prepared myself for something completely different, but the very first person I met was… amiable, concerned for someone besides himself.

The guard smiled and motioned me toward the only desk in the hall. I reluctantly made my way through the crowded Atrium. Half of the crowd was coming toward me, so I could get a good look at their faces. Almost without exception, every face was drawn, worried about something. The few faces that weren't drawn were blank, and I guessed that these were the Imperiused ones. It wasn't until shortly before I fell asleep that night that I had realized that those also could have been Death Eaters, coming so close to me, just looking for someone to try and fight back…

However, at the time, the thought never crossed my mind, and I was able to make my way over to the security desk with no worries about Death Eaters looking for me. Which, looking back now, was probably a good thing. Because if I had been any more nervous I doubt that I could have forced myself to talk any better than Alicia had that morning.

"Visitor?" asked the bald security wizard behind the desk, looking alert. Behind him loitered a short-haired witch, her wand our, staring at me mistrustfully.

"Yes," I said, a little hoarsely. My mouth felt dry again. I swallowed and tried again.

"Yes," I said again, more confidently, but the wizard hadn't waited for me. He was already waving another thin golden rod around me. The witch still hadn't taken her eyes of me, her wand twitching in my direction, as if she was eager to use it on me.

"Nothing," the Wizard reported, placing the golden rod on his desk. "Reason for visiting?"

"Invited by an Auror to see if I qualify for their training program," I replied, digging out the letter and handing it to him.

The wizard studied it closely, even so far as to getting out his own wand and waving it over it while I waited, tapping my hand against my leg while I waited.

"Looks good," he admitted finally, and I wondered if his brevity was a result of him trying to appear professional in front of the witch. The wizard cleared his throat and reached out his hand. "Wand next"

I reached into my robes and pulled out my wand. Loath though I was to pass it over, I handed it to him. The Wizard set it in the brass dish, which vibrated and spat out a thin strip of parchment out of its base.

"Twelve inches, Unicorn-Hair core, has been in use for seven years," read out the wizard in a clear voice. He half glanced toward the Witch behind him, and I got the impression that he was a little afraid of her.

"Here, take your wand back," he said, thrusting it toward me, and stabbing the strip of parchment onto a brass spike apparently built for that purpose with excessive force. "I keep the paper," he added unnecessarily

I nodded slowly at him, but didn't say anything. With an annoyed expression on his face he waved me off. I hurried through the golden gates toward where the lifts where, joining a small group of witches waiting for one at the end, all the while trying to act causal. The lift arrived with a loud jangling sound, and I bustled on. I squeezed through enough to jam my finger against the level two button before retreating toward the back wall of the lift as it clanged upward.

Within two stops, everyone else had gotten out, leaving me alone except for two or three memos floating around my head as the lift continued shuddering upward. I took a deep breath, trying to collect myself, but almost before I had time to let it out, the lift halted, and the doors opened, revealing a long hallway with sturdy doors lined along both sides. I ignored them and walked down the corridor, as the letter the Auror had sent me directed me to.

I turned the corner and shuffled through the double doors. In front of me was a wide open room, crammed full of cubicles. The memos that had kept me company in the elevator shot past me as I ground to a halt. I honestly had no idea where I was supposed to go from here. There didn't seem any sense of direction; obviously, whoever had planned out this room had not made it for visitors.

"Excuse me," I said to long-haired Auror with a ponytail as he moved past me, and it occurred to me that just at this moment I was surrounded and talking to people whose job it was to capture wizards who broke the law every day. Swallowing again, I stammered through the rest of my sentence. "Could you tell me where, um," I checked the letter was still in my hand, "Where Auror Shacklebolt is?"

"Trying to apply to the Aurors then, are you?" said the Auror. Up close he looked sinister, with his red robes and a few scars across one cheek. "You must be if you're trying to get a job, poor sod's been stuck behind his desk for a month now."

"Yes, that's right," I said, nodding.

"Go straight through and look to your right. He's waiting for you, so just look for the wizard who looks impatient."

And, chortling to himself, the wizard continued out of the office.

"You're too helpful," I muttered to myself, but hurried down the pathway the wizard had indicated, looking around. The Aurors here all looked extremely busy, and though every now and then I would pass two having a quiet conversation together, pausing as I passed.

'Miss Bell, right?" called a tall black wizard as I passed by his cubicle. He had a deep voice, and talked in such a slow, reassuring way I couldn't help but feel a bit calmer. "Please come in."

"That's me." I said, entering his cubicle. There were few pictures or decorations on the wall. A map of the world hung there, but it was lightly covered in dust and had a slightly forlorn look to it, as if it hadn't been used for a while. One picture in particular caught my eye; a gaunt looking man who had a face that once could have been considered handsome. The man looked vaguely familiar, but Shacklebolt spoke again before I could put my finger on who he was.

"You applied to the Auror office last month I believe," Shacklebolt said, obviously not one for exchanging pleasantries. He leafed through a pile of papers on his desk before he pulled one out. "The problem with this, of course, is that you did not continue to take potions after your O.W.L. year."

"Is that going to be a problem?" I asked. It would be I knew, but being under-qualified for a position was the fastest way that I could leave this interview and get downstairs.

"Normally, yes," he told me calmly, flipping over the paper. "However, the Minister feels that, in these dark times, we need more Aurors."

For instant, I thought I saw his mouth tighten when he said that, but it was gone so fast that I could have imagined it.

"I see that you managed an outstanding on your Defense Against the Dark Arts, N.E.W.T.," Shacklebot continued slowly. "So, given the circumstances, I believe that you could join the program, if you manage to pass the tests, of course."

"I could?" I asked, startled. This hadn't been in the plan.

"You could," he nodded, but his face was grave. "I need to warn you though; nothing about being an Auror is easy. The tests you will have to pass are extremely difficult, as is the training. It's exceptionally harsh, and even if you should find yourself passing it," He paused, and I got the impression that he was trying to talk me out of it. "You may be forced to do some things that you may dislike."

"May dislike?" I repeated skeptically.

The Auror sighed, and for a moment it seemed like a bore an extremely heavy weight on his shoulders. "In these dark times, sometimes one does what they have to."

He leaned toward me, intent, completely ignoring the paper in his hand now. "Miss Bell, you don't have to do that. You have a choice here, and I feel bound to warn you that by joining the Aurors you could be risking your life."

I was going to reply, "To capture Dark wizards, right?" but the words died on my lips. I knew they were false, and I had a feeling that Shacklebolt did to.

"I understand," I said, taking a deep breath like I was making a hard decision.

"If it helps, you don't have to decide now," Shacklebolt said, still watching me closely. "Take a few weeks, consider what I said."

It was a perfect excuse to comeback another time to rescue more Muggle-borns, and I didn't question my good fortune.

"I will," I said, standing up quickly. "Thank you for everything."

"Of course," he said, in his deep, slow voice, "Stay safe Miss Bell."

I nodded at him as I left, checking my watch as I went. It was already eight forty-five, meaning that still had well over an hour to get to the trial rooms before we abandoned the effort—not that I intended to wait that long.

It was a short trip out of the Auror department, so much so that I was surprised to find myself on the lift, descending with a flock of other wizards. I was nervous again. I had felt somewhat composed while I was in the interview, no doubt because of Shacklebolt's reassuring presence Now however, I felt like I did right before a Quidditch match; my heart was thumping loudly in my ears, and I was starting to sweat. I knew that it was just a matter of time before I wanted to vomit.

I tried distracting myself, something I had found effective before this. I cast around for a moment before thinking of Quidditch. I just had to picture this as another, higher stakes match, that's all. Really, it was almost the same. Angelina and Alicia were here, so we would be the three Chasers. We had worked together as a seamless team dozens of times before, this wasn't anything new…

Ryan was thin, like a seeker, which left Cormac has Keeper. Actually, when I considered it, it wasn't too bad a comparison. He was bigger even than Wood, and he possessed the same kind of maniac energy that grabbed Wood sometimes. Though, the more I thought about it, that wasn't really a fair comparison. They were a little alike, true, but where Cormac was rude and arrogant, Oliver was bold, and, if thoughtless, never arrogant about his own considerable skill.

The lift I was in came to an especially quaking halt, stirring me back to the present. I still felt nervous, but thinking about Quidditch had relaxed me a little. I looked up and saw a sight calculated to quell my nerves even more; Alicia entering the same lift as me.

"Katie! How're you?" she asked, giving me a hug. The wizards filing out gave us a passing glance, but returned to their business. Ryan had wanted us to ignore each other, but Alicia had argued that it would look more suspicious if two school mates hadn't greeted each other.

"I'm still fine," I lowered my voice, waiting patiently until the last few wizards filtered out, leaving us alone as the doors clanged shut. "Though I'm better now that you're here."

"I know the feeling," Alicia said, pressing the number nine button. She no longer sounded like she had a tooth ache, and I knew that now that we were so close to completing our plans, Alicia wasn't nervous anymore. It had always been the same way for her during Quidditch matches, an attribute of hers of which I was very jealous of right now. "I couldn't help but feel like everyone here was watching me.

I nodded silently. I did feel a bit better now that I knew someone next to me was on my side, but now that we were so close to doing carrying out our plans, I felt sick, in spite of my attempts to avoid it.

"I didn't fancy trying to play with the lifts until I found one that was empty," Alicia continued, "that's got to be a good sign, wouldn't you say?

"'Suppose so," I said, trying not to sound nervous. I had known Alicia long enough to know that she wasn't talking for her sake, but as a way to calm me down.

"Hey," said Alicia looking at me frankly, abandoning the small talk. "Katie, we'll be fine."

I looked back at her. She had said the same thing, during our first Quidditch match, years ago now. Even then, she had been playing the big sister to me. These days I was actually taller than her, and we both knew that this wasn't the same, but I still appreciated the effort.

"Thanks Alicia," I said softly.

Before either of us could say anything more, the lift jarred to a halt once more, and the doors opened to show a long, empty corridor, the only door in it a plain black one at the far end of the hall. Something struck me as off about it, and I instinctively knew I never wanted to go behind that door.

"C'mon Katie," I murmured to myself. Steeling my courage, I stepped off the lift, feeling very much as though I had just entered the secret stronghold of the enemy.

"Katie, your hat," said a voice from up the hall. Angelina appeared to step out of the wall from just in front of the stairs leading down, a Disillusionment Charm hiding her surprisingly well until she stepped out. "Ryan and Cormac right behind you by any chance?"

"Haven't seen them," Alicia said as I put on my hat; she was already wearing hers. It was quite an odd sensation to be talking to someone with no head. "They both left before me though, so let's hope it should be too long."

"Guess we wait then," sighed Angelina, stepping back to lean against the wall, blending so she looked nothing more than an oddly shaped protrusion. Alicia and I followed suit, tapping ourselves over the head and taking on the colour of the wall behind us. Though it worked fairly well, I had doubts that we would remain hidden if anyone walked down the corridor. Angelina tapped her foot gently, and I could tell that she was thinking the same thing.

Five nerve-grinding minutes later, and a wizard strode out of the lift, missing his head. Cormac, I judged, by the bulk of him. Angelina waved to him, and he strode over, looking (though it was hard to tell with the hat on) for all the world as though he owned the place.

"We all here yet?" he asked loudly, with the subtly he was known for. "Ready to go then?"

"No, and not yet," hissed Alicia from the wall. "Still waiting for Ryan. Would you keep it down?"

"Sorry," Cormac said in a stage whisper, but he too cast the charm on himself, leaning against the wall. In his case, it looked more like the wall was trying to give birth then an odd protrusion, but with Cormac that was about all we could hope for.

It took another ten minutes for Ryan to make his way down, by which point we were all ready to kill him. It wasn't really fair to him, but the waiting was the worst part yet. Really, we had made great time, it being only nine o'clock.

"Took your time, didn't you?" asked Cormac sardonically.

"I know, I know," Ryan responded, stuffing his hat on his head, and his face disappeared. "But let's set aside the sarcasm for later and get this over with."

"Are you, sure? We can wait if you need to use the bathroom," said Angelina, and though she tried to make it sound light-hearted, it came out as slightly condemning.

"Now that you mention that..." Alicia groaned, though she was moving as well, her body changing colour as she stepped out of the wall. The effect was really quite disconcerting until she tapped herself on the head and the Charm dropped away.

Together, the five of us moved down the stairs. Not quietly either, since Cormac had decided to rush down them, jumping down at least three stairs at a time.

"Let's go get them," he called over his shoulder.

"So much for stealth, huh?" I said, trying to keep up with him.

Before we had gotten halfway down the stairs, I could feel the Dementors. A terrible cold, despair, and an awful unhappiness descended down on me, filling my lungs, and if it hadn't been for the others I would have frozen halfway on the stair rather than go to that terrible place. Later, the others would admit to having the same feeling.

Together the four of us rushed down the stairs, spilling out in a dark corridor below. None of us had ever been down here before, but Leanne had told Alicia and me what to expect. Even so, I was still horrified by the corridor. Muggle-borns where sitting on long wooden benches, some of the sobbing with misery, their faces hiding in their hands. A few of them had family members arranged around them, but most of them where alone, looking lost.

Cormac and his long legs had beaten the rest of us by a precious few seconds, and he was already advancing down the hall toward where the 'trials' were being held.

"You want me?" he yelled at the Dementors. He was shaking, whether from anger or fear I couldn't tell. Even as he spoke, three of them swooped down toward him, perhaps sensing that he was his spirit wasn't broken. "Take this you Bastards! EXPECTO PATRONUM!"

A silver lion burst forth from his wand. Cormac, who had always been rather pleased that his Patronus was Gryffindor's symbol ever since he had discovered all of three weeks ago, let out a whoop as the three Dementors in front of him swooped back into darkness.

The Muggle-borns shivering on the benches looked up at him, their face stunned. Gradually, a few expressions of hope broke out, as they realized that what was happening.

Angelina's and Alicia's Patronuses surged into existence as well, filling the whole area with a sliver light that pushed the Dementors back. Ryan and I, though unable to cast a corporeal Patronus, had our wands raised as well, our job being to handle any wizards while the others kept the Dementors away.

One man, braver then the rest, detached himself from the bench where he and two others where cowering.

"You here to save us?" he asked hesitantly. His voice surprised me. I would have expected a deep tenor from a man as big as he was, but it came out much higher than that.

"Where's the trial being held?" asked Angelina tersely, ignoring this.

"Third door on the left, someone was just dragged in," replied the man, his eyes searching over us, like he was looking for something, though I wasn't sure what, since he couldn't see our faces

"Stay here, get everyone else up," said Angelina quickly. She knew as well as I did that Cormac's understated entry would have drawn attention. "These two," she pointed at Cormic and Alicia, "will stay here with you and make sure the Dementors don't come back."

"Right," said the man, reaching over to pull up one of the other Muggle-borns, but Angelina had already moved past him, heading for the door he had indicated.

Let me —" began Cormac, starting from behind, but Angelina cut him off.

"No, I need you to stay here."

"But," Cormac tried again.

"No," said Angelina again. She looked at Ryan and I. "You two coming?"

Ryan and I were after her in a second, hands clenched tightly around our wands.

"Right," whispered Angelina as she reached the door. It was unlikely that whispering at his stage would make a difference, but I didn't blame her for trying. "I'll open the door, and send my Patronus in, and then you two rush in and Stun the Wizards."

I nodded, before remembering she couldn't see my head, and shrugged instead. I was ready, if not eager. On the other side of the door, Ryan made an identical motion.

"Alright then," Angelina said, and she shoved the door open.

Almost immediately, a familiar sickly sweet voice that I had last heard two years ago said something, and two Stunners shot through the door, nearly hitting Angelina, who only dodged them by jumping to one side, her Patronus fading from view, and the horrible chill of the dementors crept back into my lungs. Ignoring it, I stuck my head around the corner so that I could see who was casting the spells and a spell almost hit me in the face. Drawing it back for a moment, I tried again. One of the advantages of having an invisible face; no one tries to deliberately go for it. I had just enough time to congratulate myself when a spell flew so close to my cheek it I felt its heat. Pulling back quickly, I saw Ryan stick his wand around the corner and bellow " _Impedimenta!"_ but I couldn't tell if it did anything.

I could hear Umbridge shouting in the room, and panicking, I copied Ryan by sticking my arm around the doorframe and yelling _"Stupefy!"_ It deflected off someone's shield, and bounded against the wall behind me, slamming into the wall so hard that small pieces of the wall broke off and pelted us. Angelina, still on the floor, scrambled to the door and shouted " _Expulso!"_

There was a noise like a hurricane unleashed in a moment; shards of wood went flying out of the room. Ryan swore loudly as he withdrew his hand around the corner. A splinter only a bit smaller then a wand was sticking from his hand.

I peeked around the door frame, wand at the ready. I needn't have bothered, since the three wizards, Dolores Umbridge herself and two others, were slumped against the far wall covered in splinters. Whatever spell Angelina had used was certainly effective.

I looked toward the centre of the room, where a man was sobbing wretchedly. As I watched, the Dementors in the room swept toward him.

"Angelina!" I said warningly, the cold chill of Dementors washing over me even more keenly now that the brief battle was over. Without Angelina's Patronus to protect us, I knew we would last long.

"Expecto Patronum!" said Angelina, still on the floor. A silver Australian Shepherd charged forth, scattering the Dementors back to the dark. The man gave a thankful sob, tears streaming down his face.

"Well, that took less time than I expected," Angelina said lightly, after a few seconds. The three of us stared at the destruction we had caused.

"That did escalate quickly," agreed Ryan, staring at the splinter in his arm before plucking it out. "Ow."

"Here," I said, grabbing his arm, ignoring the blood pouring off from the wound. _"Episkey,"_

"Thanks," Ryan watched as the skin knit back together, though his hand was still covered in blood. "It's fine now, but Merlin, a little warning next time would be nice."

"Everything alright down there?" Cormac shouted towards us. "Because if it is and you're just sitting there for fun, I'm going to be mad."

"He's right," Angelina grunted, climbing to her feet. "C'mon."

Though the room was in shambles, the spell Angelina had cast hadn't affected the stone, just the wood furniture Umbridge and her associates had been using, so it wasn't too difficult to pick our way down to the man sitting chained there. Besides a few scratches, it seemed he had escaped unharmed from Angelina's spell.

"Thank you, thank you," He was whispering at us over and over, a mantra to protect himself from the horrors that had been around him.

"Don't worry, we're going to get you out of here," I said gently. I pointed my wand at his chains. " _Relashio!"_

With a loud click, the chains clattered to the floor, and the man stood up, trembling violently. Ryan led the way out, wand at the ready. Angelina followed, silver dog trailing behind her. The man shuffled after, still looking shocked at his rescue, and I took up the rear.

The Muggle-borns in the hall were all standing up when we re-entered the hall. About half of them had wands, and one or two had even made Patronuses of their own to join Alicia's and Cormac's

"There's fifteen of them," said Alicia, as we got to where she was waiting for us at the edge of the group.

"That'll work then," said Angelina, pushing her way through the crowd. "I want you and Ryan to stay at the back and make sure everyone keeps up. Katie, Cormac and I, along with whoever else has wands, will Stun anyone in the room. Got it?"

"Sure thing," said Alicia, falling back.

"Right, listen up you lot," called Angelina loudly, without breaking her stride. "We don't have time for questions. Just follow us, and we'll see you out alright. I want anyone with wands up toward the front. If you see any Ministry wizards, Stun them."

A few people let out cheers at that, but Angelina hadn't stopped moving. They crowded after her and it took a bit of effort for me to make my way to her side. We were making for a door at the opposite end of the corridor, where Cormac had told us that they kept the fireplace that they used to transport prisoners out. Ahead of us, I could see Dementors fade back into the dark as Angelina's and Cormac's Patronuses lit up the hall.

"It's right here," said Cormac suddenly, pointing at the plain oak door to the right. He flicked his wand once, and his lion faded away. "What?" he asked at Angelina's exasperated body language. "They're going to need help."

"Fine. I'll stay out here." Angelina said. "Just make it fast, alright?"

"I always am," said Cormac cockily, and then winced. "Uh... almost always.

Angelina sighed, but let it go. Cormac moved to the door. "You ready?" he asked me.

I looked up at him, but he had already shoved the door open.

I had a brief glimpse of tiered stone where benches once sat and a massive fireplace before red light flashed at me with the speed of a Bludger. I yelped and shouted " _Protego_ " not second too soon. Three Stunners bounded off of it, and the wizards behind me let out a roar and shouted their own spells. They wizards inside were ready for us though, and they already had their own Shield Charms up.

I sprinted in, trying to make room for the other wizards to get in. I figured that they could hold us off long enough for reinforcements to come if they kept us in that doorway. Spells hit the walls behind me, but I managed to make it long enough to see that there was absolutely nothing for me to hide behind.

The good news was that my dash had distracted them, and two of them fell as they tried to hit me. The bad news was that I wasn't so good at dodging stuff without a broom, and one of the remaining three managed to hit me with a Full Body Bind.

For those of you who have never had it used on them, Let me tell you that as far as curses go, it's not really that bad. Sure, it puts you out of the fight, but it doesn't hurt much, and you can still see what's going on around you as long as you fell the right way. Back in my sixth year at Hogwarts, we learned it in Dumbledore's Army. We had practiced it on each other, and you quickly found that you had about half a second before your limbs snapped to your sides. If you were fast and lucky enough, you could angle your body to see who else was being hit.

I did the same thing here, falling so I could see the fire place. With a thud, my shoulder hit the floor. I would have gasped if I could, and I knew that I would have a bruise there tomorrow. However, I did have a pretty good of view of the remaining three Ministry Wizards as they duelled. They were very good, and I heard a grunt from the doorway as another wizard was hit. However, they were still outnumbered two-to-one, and I let out the mental equivalent of a cheer as another wizard on their side went down, the mirror he was holding in his left hand shattering as it hit the ground.

The remaining two valiantly fought on, wands blurring as they tried to keep up with the amount of spells coming toward them. They were weaving around so much that it was it was hard for me to see their faces, but I fancied they were wearing looking desperate. Behind them, I could dark shapes moving, swooping up and down. Dementors, I realized with a sudden rush of understanding. They couldn't get near with Angelina's Sheppard floating around, but they lurked just outside the light it gave off.

As good as the two remaining Ministry wizards were, they were still outnumbered, and they fell almost at the same time, one hit by a rebounding Stunner, and the other collapsing into a pile as another curse I didn't know hit him. A few late spells flew over them, and then some muttering as the people still in the door way congratulated themselves. A few footsteps started entered the room, and I heard cries of _"Finite_ " echo around the room.

More people entered the room, their footsteps sounding loud from where my ear was pressed to the floor. By some small miracle, my hat hadn't been knocked off and no one had seen my face, though I suppose I must have looked quite odd lying there with no head on. I saw Alicia kneel over me, and she muttered something under her breath. Her spell hit me and I found I could move once more.

"You alright?" She asked, helping me up.

"Fine," I replied back, rubbing my shoulder. "But we got to find a better way to enter these rooms next time."

"We'll work on it," Alicia promised me. "But we should get going."

The last of the Muggle-borns had entered the room, and Ryan had just shut the door, waving his wand at it so that it sealed itself with a squishy noise that I would never got used to. I turned back to the fireplace to see Angelina standing on front of it, while Cormac was extinguishing the fire in there, so the only light came from a few dull torches and the light of the Patronuses floating overhead.

"We don't have long until they start trying to get in here, so I'll keep this brief," Angelina started. "We're all going to hop in the fireplace, but instead of heading to Azkaban, we're going to be heading to Umbridge's house."

I don't quite remember what was yelled at us, since their voices blended together pretty well, but you can imagine that they weren't very happy to learn that we were taking them to the house of the person who was supposed to be trying them.

The problem was that there weren't a lot of choices. Only a few houses were still connected to the Ministry, and fewer still were guaranteed to be empty at the moment.

"I know, I know," Angelina shouted over the protests, waving her hands to get their attention. "But we don't have time to explain. Either trust us and go through, or else go out and wait for the Ministry to throw you into Azkaban."

"When you put it like that, I guess we're in," said the first man who had stood up in the corridor, though a few of the Muggle-borns were still muttering about it. With a loud whoosh, Cormac reignited the fire, dramatically lighting up the room.

"Lovely," said Angelina, straight-faced. Of course, it's easy to be straight faced when on one can see your face, but she _sounded_ straight-faced. I'm going to send one of my people first, just to make sure it's safe."

She was looking at me, so I walked over. I didn't know how much good I would do if someone was waiting for me on the other side, but I grabbed some Floo Powder from a pot above on the mantel, throw it in the fire, stepped in and clearly said, "Umbridge's house!"

It worked immediately, spinning me around so fast that I had to shut my eyes or risk puking, which was something I definitely didn't want to try right now. Soon though, I spilled out of a different fireplace.

"How many did you get?" came a voice, and I looked up.

Courtney was standing above the table (pink tablecloth of course), her wand drawn and pointing at me in spite of the causal tone.

As some of you may have guessed, this was also part of the plan. Actually, this was the part where Courtney put her newly learned house-entering skills to the test. She had previously only tried it on Comic's family's cabin, but I guessed by the fact that she was still there that all the alarms where down.

"Fifteen. All the protections down?" I asked, climbing up and examining the room. It was almost nauseatingly pink, and after a moment I decided that it would be better to focus on Courtney for the sake of my eyes.

"No, I decided to take a break and play a game instead of finishing my job," Courtney shot back, scooping up the cards she had been playing with while waiting and shoving it into a pocket. Out of another pocket she took out her Headless Hat. "Everyone alright?"

"We're all fine" I replied, checking my watch. It was only five minutes past nine, which meant only five minutes had passed since we had first charged down the stairs. It had felt like longer, and I remember staying up that night checking to make sure my watch wasn't broken.

The fireplace roared behind me, and the man we had saved from the trial room swirled into sight, gasping a little.

"C'mon," I told him, helping him up. "Grab my arm tightly, I'm going to Apparate,"

"Apparate?" he asked in a weak voice, his grip clenching down on my arm.

"I know, I don't like it either," I said, preparing myself. "But you'll be safe there."

I turned on the spot, pulling the two of us into darkness.

We landed on a beautiful, grass covered area. There in front of us stood a tidy, rustic sort of cabin, some massive oaks framing it in the background. In the distance, I could hear the distant ocean pounding against a beach somewhere. Even now, years later, I still think it was the one of the most peaceful spots I've ever seen.

It looked like a vacation lodge, but Cormac had assured us that his family had owned it for years, and that Muggle Repelling Charms keeping any nosy people well away from it, something I fervently hoped was true.

The man sat down heavily, bloodshot eyes taking in the attractive landscape. I was tempted to join him, to take a moment to stop the queasy feeling coming from my stomach, when a loud _crack_ broke the silence. Courtney had arrived with another wizard.

"We got more," was all she said, before she turned on the spot and disappeared into thin air.

I forced myself to take a deep breath before I followed her. It didn't really help, but it was all the rest I was going to get. After a brief moment of suffocating darkness, I reappeared in Umbridge's house, where the pink walls did nothing to help my stomach settle down.

There were five more Muggle-borns already in the room, with a sixth one already coming through as I leaned against the wall for a moment. Courtney had already disappeared again. I groaned but motioned for the next person, a witch only a few years older than me to grab my arm. She seemed vaguely familiar, and I guessed that I had seen her at Hogwarts before.

"Ready?" I asked her. It was all that I could say at the moment.

"Sure," she said back, as Courtney Apparated in again. "Yeah,"

I turned once more into the darkness, the witch squeezing my arm so tightly it hurt. We landed on the same stretch of grass as before. The Muggle-borns already there took the witch from me as she knelt down on the grass to vomit. I averted my eyes and fumbled my way into the blackness once more.

It took me three more trips, but in the end, there were twenty-one of us in front of the cabin, fifteen Muggle-borns and the six of us. Angelina had reported that wizards had just started pounding on the door as she had left; we had made it out with plenty of time to spare. Everyone had avoided any major injury, and we were all relatively confident that we had gotten away with it. No doubt the Ministry was scrambling around, trying to find out who had done it.

All in all, it was a good day, and it wasn't even lunch yet.

The Muggle-borns were arrayed in the grass, sitting or standing as they breathed in the fresh air. Away from the Dementors, they looked stronger. At least half of them still had their wands, and a few had even had the presence of mind to help us move people. A few of them still looked queasy from the Apparation, but most of then looked healthy. They wandered around, talking and hugging one another.

"I'm surprised that everything worked as well as it did," said Ryan. The six of us were standing closest to the cabin, standing as we talked. Soon, we would have to send the Muggle-borns off, but right now we were feeling satisfied enough to just stand there.

"By that ringing endorsement of it, I'm assuming everything went well then," said Courtney.

"It went about as well as could be expected," agreed Alicia.

"Smooth as slime," chipped in Ryan, and then paused before adding. "Except for Katie getting knocked unconscious."

Courtney turned to look at me, and I pictured her gaping, though her face was still invisible.

"Really?" she asked, sounding amused. "How'd that happen?"

"Well, how I hear it," said Ryan slowly, "She tripped and knocked her head on the floor."

"Really," said Angelina, and I could hear her struggling not to laugh. "I _wondered_ what happened."

I shook my head, letting Ryan have his bit of fun. God knew he needed to relax more, and if he had to do it at my expense, so be it, though I had to wonder why he had to choose _now_ to get a sense of humour.

"Did you see what I did to those Dementors though," said Cormac, brandishing his wand like a toddler might. "That was all me."

"Yes you did," said Alicia soothingly. Usually Cormac's bravado and arrogance got on our nerves, but right now it felt pretty well earned.

For five minutes the six of us just stood there, feeling content in what we had done. For the first time in almost two months, the pressure of trying to accomplish something was off our shoulders, along with all the worry of being caught. It would return we knew, but for now it just felt good to stand there in silence, watching the fruits of our work relax in the sun.

Should we get these people out of here yet?" asked Cormac. He had spent the last four out of five minutes fidgeting around until he was apparently bored enough to speak.

"We really should," said Ryan, sighing. "The sooner they're out of the country the better for everyone. I'll go get the brooms."

"I'll help," Courtney said quickly, springing after him. The remaining four of us watched them.

"Alright then," said Angelina. She moved so that she was a little in front of us, then took on a tone I regarded as her 'captain tone.'

"Listen up you lot," she said loudly, and the Muggle-borns turned to look at her, the few conversations that were going on diminishing into silence. "We got you out of the Ministry, but we can't keep you safe. Not here, not anywhere."

"We have enough brooms for all of you. You can take them, and if you cross that ocean you hear, you should be able to cross into France. We don't have any more wands, but if you all stick together, then you should be safe enough."

Ryan and Courtney walked out of the Cabin; two headless people carrying a variety of old broomsticks. Angelina glanced back at them before continuing her speech, speaking softer as they handed out the broomsticks.

"It's your choice where to go. I'm sorry we can't help more, but we've done everything we can for you."

Ma'am," called the man who had first stood up in the hallway. He was already mounted on his broom, and he floated a few feet above the ground. "You've saved our lives, given us a way out, and gave us hope. You've helped us more then we can ever think you for."

"Yeah," called the young witch who had thrown up after I had Apparated with her. "We can't thank you enough."

Angelina stood there silently, and I think she was too moved to say anything. That's certainly how I felt.

Cormac on other hand...

"You all are most welcome," he yelled. "Happy to have saved your lives."

The man gave us one more wave and shot upward into the air. He waited until the others had followed suit. I thought I spied some of them were crying, either with relief or something else, I couldn't tell. It took a minute to get sorted out, but within a minute they had flown off, the better fliers sticking close to those who were less sure.

The six of us stayed in the cabin that night, rather than my comparably small flat. It took a while of us to get to bed. We felt lighter then we had, or would feel in months. Looking back on it, I think that was the second worse time we had when we entered the Ministry. Oh, there were harder times, but after this one we understood that it was possible to do at all.

As we went to sleep that night, we slept soundly, knowing we had dealt the first real blow to the Ministry.

I know now that we indeed had dealt a blow to the ministry, but only to its pride. That's all. We hadn't changed the world, though at the time we felt like we had. In the end, we hadn't really damaged the Ministry at all.

But we did save fifteen people from the worst prison on earth, and I realize now that's something much, much better.

* * *

 **A/N: and that's all for this time. I do plan on having do more chapters, but considering how long this took to write, you guys may be waiting a while. Sorry about that!**

 **Thanks for reading, and may your travels be ever safe.**


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